Archive for the ‘Green Industry News’ Category
New homeowner Energy Audit Cli…
Thursday, December 31st, 2009New homeowner Energy Audit Client Signup in Jackson County, MO using http://www.jobsiteontime.com for @woodyparkrls
President Obama Declares Octob…
Saturday, October 24th, 2009President Obama Declares October National Energy Awareness Month on
October 6, 2009
President Obama Orders Federal Agencies to Trim Greenhouse Gases
Saturday, October 24th, 2009The federal government’s commitment to sustainability is demonstrated at Nellis Air Force Base, near Las Vegas, Nevada, where a 14-megawatt solar power facility forms a patchwork pattern on the landscape. Enlarge this photo.
Credit: Master Sgt. Robert Valenca, U.S. Air Force
President Obama signed an executive order on October 5 that sets sustainability goals for federal agencies and focuses on making improvements in their environmental, energy, and economic performance. The Executive Order requires federal agencies to set a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for 2020 within 90 days. It also requires federal agencies to increase their energy efficiency, reduce the petroleum consumption of their fleets, conserve water, reduce waste, support sustainable communities, and leverage their federal purchasing power to promote environmentally-responsible products and technologies. The new Executive Order makes reducing greenhouse gas emissions a priority for the federal government, which occupies nearly 500,000 buildings, operates more than 600,000 vehicles, employs more than 1.8 million civilians, and purchases more than $500 billion per year in goods and services.
In his order, President Obama requires agencies to meet a number of energy, water, and waste reduction targets, including reducing their vehicle fleet petroleum use by 30% by 2020; beginning in 2020, designing all new federal buildings to achieve net-zero energy use by 2030; improving their water efficiency by 26% by 2020; minimizing their buildings’ impacts on storm water runoff; recycling or diverting 50% of their waste by 2015; and meeting sustainability requirements in 95% of all applicable contracts. Within 180 days of the order, the federal government will also develop guidance for locating federal buildings in a manner consistent with sustainable development. Some recent examples of federal environmental stewardship include the planned construction of a 600-kilowatt wind turbine at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota, and the planned installation of an 8-megawatt solar photovoltaic system at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, Colorado. See the White House press release and the Executive Order (PDF 87 KB).
The Executive Order follows the president’s proclamation of October as National Energy Awareness Month. The president called on the people of the United States to mark the month by making clean energy choices that can both rebuild our economy and make it more sustainable. Noting that the federal government is the largest consumer of energy in the United States, the proclamation noted that the Obama Administration is committed to lead by example in the use of clean energy and energy efficiency. The proclamation also notes that we face a turning point in our nation’s energy policy, and that we can either allow climate change to wreak unnatural havoc, or we can create jobs deploying low-carbon technologies to prevent its worst effects. See the president’s proclamation.
Recession Recovery Training Package – Need help to afford energy training?
Friday, September 25th, 2009Need help to afford energy training?
Students who enroll in a week-long training session at Accurate Rater Network scheduled between October 1st and the end of 2009 will receive FREE accommodations. You read that right! FREE Accommodations!
Here is how Recession Recovery Training Package will save you $$$:
- Accommodations: Depending on where other training facilities are located, this benefit can be worth $1,000 or more in hotel/motel savings for a one-week stay.
- Air Fare: Since Accurate Rater Network is located in the heart of the USA, flights to Kansas City are typically quite reasonable.
- No Rental Car: Another key benefit is that multiple hotels, restaurants and even a large grocery store are within easy walking distance of the ARN training facility, so no rental car is needed after arrival to your hotel.
- Food Prices: Since every hotel room included in this package has a microwave and refrigerator, you can purchase your food at the grocery store and save big $$ in food expense as well.
- What could be more economical than this?
To take advantage of this package, you will need to enroll through the ARN website for one of these week-long training sessions:
- BPI Energy Analyst Training and Certification,
- BPI Envelope Specialist Training and Certification or
- RESNET Residential Home Energy (HERS) Rater Training and Certification.
Accurate Rater Network is an accredited RESNET HERS Rater Training Facility & Q/A Provider, a BPI Training Affiliate and a LEED® for Homes Accredited Training Facility and Green Rater Provider. Other training sessions are available as well; please check our training calendar for schedules.
If you are a local Kansas City resident, you can opt to have a 10% discount on your course training fee in lieu of the accommodation special or receive a discount on joining the ARN Providership. We would like everyone who wants training now to get it before winter hits. See you in class this fall!
Recovery Act Announcement: Obama Administration Delivers More than $106 Million for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Projects in Nine States
Friday, September 25th, 2009September 24, 2009
Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today that more than $106 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is being awarded to 9 states to support energy efficiency and conservation activities. Under the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program, these states will implement programs that lower energy use, reduce carbon pollution, and create green jobs locally.
“This funding will allow states across the country to make major investments in energy solutions that will strengthen America’s economy and create jobs at the local level,” said Secretary Chu. “It will also promote some of the cheapest, cleanest and most reliable energy technologies we have—energy efficiency and conservation—which can be deployed immediately. Local communities can now make strategic investments to help meet the nation’s long term clean energy and climate goals.”
RESNET Joins United Nations in Call for Action on Buildings and Climate Change
Friday, September 18th, 2009The Kyoto Climate Change Protocol gave the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) the responsibility for facilitating the negotiations for the successor to the international climate treaty which is set to expire in 2011. One of the failings of the protocol was that it did not inadequately effect building energy performance. The United Nations is in the process of negotiating the successor treaty to Kyoto. It is expected that the U.S., China and India will be the parties of the next treaty,
One of the failings of the Kyoto protocol was that it did not inadequately affect building energy performance. To ensure that the building sector is adequately covered in the successor treaty, the United Nations has formed the Sustainable Buildings & Construction Initiative (UNEP SBCI) that will make recommendations to the UNEP and the national leaders that will be negotiating the new climate change treaty. RESNET is a member of the UNEP SBCI. Other organizations representing the U.S. on the panel are Natural Resources Defense Council and the US Green Building Council.
The SBCI has issued a call for action for the industry to support efforts to include building energy performance in the international climate treaty. The call for action finds:
- Building have the greatest potential for delivering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions cuts, at the least cost, using available and mature technologies.Buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of global energy use and up to 30% of global GHG emissions.
- Countries must support the building industry to meet their existing commitments to Kyoto Protocol and to the Bali Roadmap.
- The building industry can deliver significant cost savings and improvements in energy and resource use. It can also create jobs and improve local economies.
It calls for Copenhagen’s climate change framework to:
- Recognizing buildings as a top priority for achieving GHG emissions reductions.
- Enable market-based measures that can support investment in building projects that are energy efficient and reduce GHG emissions.
- Building capacity and transfer technology to enable improvements in energy efficiency of buildings.
- Supporting reform of flexible mechanisms to encourage investment in projects that improve energy efficiency and reduce GHG emissions from new and existing buildings.
- For the UNFCCC to establish working groups to develop specific measures for the building industry prior to the next commitment period.
- Encourage governments to inventory and set performance goals for GHG emissions from national building stocks.
RESNET supports the call for action and urges the U.S. negotiating team to the climate talks to adopt the principals contained in the call. The SBCI has produced a PDF version of the call to action on buildings and climate change. I have attached a copy of the SBCI call for action. The RESNET network is urged to download the call for action and share it with their partners, peers and allies.
By working together, the building performance industry can influence the process and make improved building performance a key element in the international treaty.
Steve Baden
Executive Director
RESNET
P.O. Box 4561
Oceanside, CA 92052
Phone: 760-806-3448
Fax: 760-806-9449
sbaden@resnet.us
www.resnet.us
Climate Bill’s Energy Efficiency Provisions Could Create 569,000 Jobs
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009September 11, 2009
Washington, D.C., United States [RenewableEnergyWor ld.com]
Energy efficiency provisions in the American Clean Energy Security Act (ACES — H.R. 2454) with improvements could create more than 569,000 new jobs nationwide in the next ten years and provide US $283 in annual savings for every household in America, according to a new study released today by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).
By 2030, these benefits could increase to more than one million jobs and $832 in annual savings per household — all while reducing government-projecte d levels of nationwide carbon emissions by 15 percent, or 959 million metric tons.
The new report, Energy Efficiency in the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009: Impacts of Current Provisions and Opportunities to Enhance the Legislation, underscores the energy efficiency potential — and accompanying benefits — still available as the Senate considers energy and climate legislation.
In fact, the examined improvements would result in 48 percent more jobs and 32 percent more consumer savings than the 383,800 jobs and $215 in annual household savings in 2020 than the energy efficiency provisions of ACES, the original House bill, would provide.
Click here to see what the ACES could save in your state.
“Energy efficiency may not be as hot a topic as cap-and-trade, but it certainly gets the job done when it comes to saving consumers money and creating jobs,” stated Steven Nadel, ACEEE’s Executive Director and co-author of the report. “As our report shows, the Senate can boost those benefits by improving the energy efficiency provisions of the Waxman-Markey bill.”
Improvements to ACES considered in ACEEE’s analysis are:
Strengthening the Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) that sets a 10% energy savings goal for electric utility companies. (ACES includes a 5% EERS with an optional 3% increase.)
Requiring one-third of the electric utility allowances to be used for energy efficiency improvements as are the natural gas allowances in ACES.
Extending the allocation of 9.5% of carbon allowance revenue to the State Energy and Environmental Development (SEED) fund to 2030. (ACES ramps down SEED fund spending beginning in 2016.)
Energy Efficiency in the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009: Impacts of Current Provisions and Opportunities to Enhance the Legislation is available for free download or a hard copy can be purchased for $25
DOE to Fund up to $454 Million…
Monday, September 14th, 2009DOE to Fund up to $454 Million for Retrofit Energy Efficiency. http://bit.ly/OcLbE
EPA reported in the Appraisal …
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009EPA reported in the Appraisal Journal that a home’s value increases by $20 for every $1 decrease in annual energy bill. http://bit.ly/tyyh1